A New Direction
by Twizzler-17
Summary: The rent was high and their apartment was the size of a shoebox, but it was all worth it. They were in New York City.   A look at Rachel and Kurt as they attempt to conquer NYC after graduation. FR, KB. Rating subject to change.


So, I know it's cheesy, but I saw all these amazing things Gleeks had made for a potential spin-off ('A New Direction') after the Hummelberry conversation in the S2 finale about moving to NY. So I had to try it. :)

Disclaimer - None of the characters are mine - they all belong to Ryan, Ian and Brad.

**A New Direction – Chapter 1**

The rent was high, the apartment was the size of the shoebox, they had to choose between heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer, and Rachel was pretty sure that there was a homeless man who gave his address as the front step outside their complex, but it was all worth it.

They had made it two years in New York City.

Except now Rachel was really wishing they had opted for the air conditioning this year. It was the end of June, and she hadn't ever gotten used to the feeling of waking up sweaty and sticky from the humid, New York summers. She woke as she did every day since high school at 6:15, but decided against her morning run for the day. Staying in her matching collared shirt and pajama pants, she slipped out of her room.

She slowly pushed open the door to the other bedroom to see Kurt passed out on his stomach, arms lying fish-like by his side, covers kicked off in a nighttime fit against the hot weather and his head facing away from the door. Rachel had to stifle a giggle with her hand as she tip-toed needlessly across what was left of the floor space to the other side of the bed – Kurt was, she had found, a very deep sleeper and even if she had come in screaming, he probably would have only stirred a bit.

The bed wasn't very wide to begin with, and Kurt was more or less sprawled over about 80% of it, but Rachel was small and so she managed to wiggle onto the remaining free mattress. She brought her face in line with Kurt's, just inches away, and took a deep sigh.

"Oh, Kurt…." She moaned. Kurt licked his lips and stirred slightly.

"Yes, Blaine…" He trailed off, lifting his hand to graze her face, at which point Rachel lost it and devolved into her laughter. Deep sleeper that Kurt was, Rachel Berry laughing, at any volume or any distance from his face, was enough to awake anyone within a 2 block radius. He smiled, opening his eyes.

"Never thought I'd wake up in this position," he said, his face still in line with Rachel's. He extended his arm to cuddle. Rachel gladly accepted.

"What? Next to the one and only Rachel Berry?"

"Well, next to a woman in general." Rachel laughed. "How much did I have to drink last night for this to happen?"

"Don't worry Kurt, your loins are safe. I only came in 5 minutes ago. You passed out last night before 'Say Yes to the Dress' even came on."

"I must have been in some alcohol-induced coma then because there is no way that show would have been allowed on in this apartment otherwise."

Rachel was glad that Kurt wasn't too upset she had woken him up at 6:30 in the morning, but she figured he had probably gotten used to it after the past two years. Rachel got up, took a jog around a few city blocks, came back and showered all before 7:00 am on most days, and being quiet wasn't exactly her strong suit.

"So to what do I owe this pleasure of having Rachel Berry in my bed at such an ungodly hour? Usually, you're slamming the cabinet doors looking for your thermos or water bottle or something or other at this time."

"Well, today is a very special day, Kurt, if you remember…" Rachel teased.

"Well, it's an anniversary of some sort….is it the day that _Funny Girl_ opened on Broadway?"

_Nope, March 26__th_

"Perhaps the day that we bought our first vacuum cleaner? Or our new couch?"

_September 3__rd__, and then February 19__th__. Tsk, tsk Kurt. _

"Or maybe the day that you finally killed a spider in the bathroom on your own?" Kurt ribbed.

_Well, that would be a day to remember._

"No! It's our official two year anniversary with this lovely apartment." Rachel said, coughing as, ironically, part of the dry wall from the ceiling fell.

"Ah, I remember now. So, should I send my assorted, cotton-based gift to you or to the apartment then?"

"Well, I was thinking more that we could celebrate – no gifts. Maybe a quick trip to Tiffany's for bagels?" Rachel was hoping the nostalgia of their trip to Tiffany's from their Nationals trip their junior year of high school would add to her persuasion.

"I would love to loiter while eating stale bagels with you, but I actually have an audition today that I should probably be getting ready for now." Kurt said, releasing Rachel from his embrace and rolling over to sit up on the side of the bed.

"Good thing I woke you then. Well, dinner then, no exceptions – Famous Joe's at 8." Rachel said definitively.

"Sounds good. Now go away, honey, so I can get ready for work."

Two years, and they had already become like a married couple.

* * *

><p>Classes were out for the summer, and Rachel and Kurt, feeling the pressure to finally get the training wheels off regarding their parents and their rent, knew they needed summer jobs badly. While student housing was cheaper, living together in an apartment that was equally far from every campus seemed like the most logical choice to them when they had first moved to New York City. Now that the rent was only split between two people, that decision seemed rather childish.<p>

An acting job, or even a singing job, would be ideal. Rachel had been working through auditions here and there since she had come to New York - nothing groundbreaking, but she wanted to get her name out there. So far, she had failed to break through the bubble outside of Tisch. Everything she was learning in school seemed to be a waste – the 'technique', the vocal exercises, the 4 credit-hour bullshit class about 'embracing the character'. She wanted to put it into practice. She wanted to win Tonys. She was tired of waiting. She had waited 18 years in Lima to be a star. She was ready.

Kurt just wanted a job as well. He enjoyed his classes at The New School and knew that his father and Carole were pooling their arms and legs to pay for him to learn something about the craft he enjoyed – and what better place to learn than from the greats of New York. He auditioned for school productions and had tried for a few off-off-off-off Broadway shows last summer. But every rejection or missed callback just rang in his mind that he was here to concentrate on school – at least for now. The Tonys would still be there in a few years and he would be better for it.

Rachel busied herself 'cleaning' their apartment, which was a miniscule task for their 800 sq. foot apartment that she prided herself on being spotless on a regular basis anyway. Occasionally, she would glance back to the corner behind the TV where a brown box sat untouched for nearly nine months now. _Maybe today is the day._ She had told Kurt it was a special day. But her procrastination was helped along by the phone ringing. It had been there for nine months and Kurt hadn't really mentioned anything about it – it could wait a few more measly days. She grabbed the phone and pressed 'Talk'.

The role was for a 'good-looking boy who looks about high-school aged who could sing well'. Kurt usually laughed at the descriptions he found for auditions – he found them so vague, petty, and derivative of one another. He yearned for the day that he would find a description looking for an "ugly, white woman who is 5'8" with short brunette hair who looks 17 and who can sing like Celine." But then again, they needed to be purposefully vague, he figured, because sometimes, they could find someone they weren't exactly picturing at first. He was lucky he hadn't outgrown his boyish looks from high school. He had his standard monologue, ripped from Dead Poet's Society, prepared and was contemplating singing a song from his 'New Directions' repertoire, though he would wait to see for whom he was auditioning. When they called him in, he took a deep breath and stepped forth.

Rachel barely processed what the man on the other end of the line was saying after she heard the word 'sorry'. She had auditioned the week before for some production – she couldn't even remember the name of it now – for a completely off-Broadway musical that was set to run by the end of the summer for critics and, with luck, for a while afterwards. She had recognized the director as someone with potential and some of the attached names were deigned 'up-and-comers' by the talk of the industry, so Rachel had gotten excited at the possibility of the role. She had belted her heart out and had even used her expertise in crying-on-demand, something she didn't often employ. Now all she could hear was the same things she had heard a million times – the nose, the height, the weight, good voice, too much personality. Was that even possible on Broadway? Rachel's dreams to be on Broadway were larger than life – her personality was just there to match. She pressed 'End' without even a goodbye.

Usually they at least waited. Sometimes, even just not hearing back for a callback stung just as bad as a call of rejection. But to stand there and have the director and the casting specialist say to him what he had heard from a million others – he needed to expand his range, show some vulnerability, show a little less personality or 'cockiness', as they put it – Kurt was just humiliated. He contemplated storming off the stage while they dissected and criticized his monologue and song piece by piece, but he knew he had to act professional. What did they know, anyway? Kurt knew he could have been perfect.

All Rachel wanted to do after the phone call was curl back up into bed. But she decided to, instead, head down to Sanka's, a bar near NYU that she helped host at part-time during the school year to help pay for necessities. She figured that her dads wouldn't be as kind next year with helping with the rent, and, even if it wasn't an acting job, on or off Broadway, it was a job nonetheless. She came with the intention of asking for a promotion, but first saw her friend, Shelly, who was hosting at the time. One look at Rachel's tired eyes and she grabbed her hand and pulled her to the back room, letting Rachel know that she knew 'exactly what she needed'.

Kurt was in no mood for pizza, but he didn't want to break the promise he had made to Rachel. Besides, he didn't want to let another failed opportunity get to him. His time would come, he knew. After stepping out of the building, he looked both ways to orient himself in relation to Famous Joe's and didn't even notice the man standing in front of him. He was taken aback by George, as he introduced himself. George had seen his audition from the back of the room and wanted to tell Kurt how he really appreciated the depth he brought to Neil's character. He looked young and good-looking and certainly talked 10 miles per minute and before Kurt could even really process what he was saying, George had pressed a small, business card into his hand and walked away.

* * *

><p>"I feel bad eating out when I can barely scrap together enough money to pay rent most months." Kurt laughed, opening up the menu.<p>

"Well don't feel bad – eat up! And take your time, since we won't be able to go back to our apartment until we get our rent for July in anyway." Rachel said, allowing her eyes to scan the menu.

"Guess we'll be living at Famous Joe's for a while then?"

"Guess so." Rachel smiled. "How'd the audition go?"

"Poorly, as they had no problem telling me the second I stopped singing my solo." Kurt said, hoping his bitterness wasn't too noticeable.

"There's always next time, though. You're great, we all know it. You know that audition I went out for last week?" Kurt nodded, eyes lighting up at the possibility of Rachel's career potentially moving forward.

"It's a no-go. Same old, same old – they didn't like my look…or my personality for that matter."

"Sorry Rach. But it's like you said – we'll get them sometime." Rachel sighed. "What?"

"It's just sometimes, I wonder….is it enough? Maybe it's like what Finn said – we're Lima good, but we're just delusional enough to think we're New York good? Maybe Finn had it right all along."

It had been months since Rachel had said anything about Finn. The comment weighed heavily in the air – like Kurt and Rachel were both replaying in their head the same conversation they had rehashed hundreds of times before about Finn. Rachel decided to change the subject.

"How's Blaine? I haven't talked to him much – did he get home okay?" Kurt launched into what he thought was the hilarious story that Blaine had left his ID back in his dorm room in Providence and had to literally sprint to make his flight back to Ohio for summer break. Rachel faked a smile, trying not to let Finn pervade her thoughts too much.

It was hard for her to believe that only two years had passed since that fateful day when Rachel and Finn had pulled up to their new apartment in his pick-up filled with boxes and Kurt, Blaine, Burt and Carole in the station wagon behind them. She remembered the day so clearly – it was a hot and humid day, much like today, when all Rachel, Kurt and Blaine could muster up the strength to do was plug in their portable fan and lay in its path in the small area designated as their living room while Finn carried up their boxes from the truck.

Rachel was going to Tisch, Kurt to The New School. Blaine had enrolled at Columbia and Finn had promised his mom he would enroll in community college classes while he looked for a job in the city. Rachel was ready to audition the first week she was there – she had her portfolio ready and everything. The four of them had planned to live there for the four years they would be in school, no matter what – Rachel and Finn in one room, Kurt and Blaine in the other (after much arguing from the three sets of parents involved).

Their plans seemed so set and their dreams seemed so big. They were all ready to rid themselves of Ohio. They were ready for a new direction.

Now, just two years later, it was only Kurt and Rachel left. They hadn't even made the halfway mark before everything imploded.

Their waitress had finally come to take their order.

"So, you two on a date?" It was an older lady, smiling knowingly at Kurt and Rachel. Kurt laughed.

"No, we're not dating," Kurt said. The lady raised her eyebrow not so discreetly.

"We're just roommates."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: PLEASE tell me what you think! I have the next chapter mostly written out, but I'm still trying to decide if I want to write it more in flashbacks or write the story linearly, so...in progress for the time being. More to come on Finn and Blaine and what they've been up to. **


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